The East Hampton Town Board voted last Thursday to authorize $462,193 from the community preservation fund to be allocated to four water quality improvement projects recommended for grants by the town’s water quality technical advisory committee.
The grants incentivize businesses, community organizations, and others to take action to mitigate impaired water bodies. Projects eligible for funding range from wastewater treatment improvement efforts to pollution abatement and aquatic habitat restoration.
The four projects were chosen from among 10 applications.
One grant will go to the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs, where a conventional septic system will be replaced with a constructed wetland alternative system that uses plants and micro-organisms to treat effluent and reduce nitrogen to levels below or consistent with “innovative alternative” septic systems. The Stony Brook Foundation, which owns the property, will get $132,100 toward the project’s $147,170 cost.
East Hampton Village was awarded $226,000 to upgrade the conventional municipal septic system at the Main Beach Pavilion to add innovative alternative systems for each of two comfort stations.
The Montauk Anglers Club and Marina, on Lake Montauk, was awarded $89,843 to replace its commercial wastewater treatment system with an innovative alternative system, and Concerned Citizens of Montauk got $14,250 toward installation of 3,000 square feet of floating wetlands in Fort Pond. The roots of plants in the floating mats take in excess nitrogen and phosphorous as food, reducing the nutrient load in the water and enhancing levels of dissolved oxygen.
On June 1, the town announced that it is again accepting grant applications for water quality improvement projects. Specific information and the complete Request for Applications is at the Natural Resources Department, Clean Water East Hampton page on the town website. Information can also be provided by email upon requests sent to [email protected]. Proposals are due by Aug. 1 at 4 p.m.
